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Trop v. Dulles

Significance, Court Rules That Denaturalization Is Cruel And Unusual Punishment, Rescinding American Citizenship



Appellant

Albert L. Trop

Appellee

John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State

Appellant's Claim

That taking away his American citizenship amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Osmond K. Fraenkel

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

J. Lee Rankin, U.S. Solicitor General

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Earl Warren (writing for the Court), Charles Evans Whittaker

Justices Dissenting

Harold Burton, Tom C. Clark, Felix Frankfurter, John Marshall Harlan II

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

31 March 1956

Decision

The Supreme Court reversed Trop's expatriation.

Related Cases

  • Perez v. Brownell, 356 U.S. 44 (1958).
  • Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967).
  • Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).
  • Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976).

Sources

West Encyclopedia of American Law, Vol. 2. Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing, 1998.

Further Readings

  • Karst, Kenneth L. Belonging to America: Equal Citizenship and the Constitution. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
  • Meltsner, Michael. Cruel and Unusual: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment. New York, NY: Random House, 1973.
  • Sigloer, Jay A. American Rights Policies. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1975,

Additional topics

Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1954 to 1962